You Can Run but You Can’t Hide

The Missouri Kid thought he’d get away with murder.

William Rudolph had no luck. The 20-year-old and a cohort robbed a Union, Missouri bank in 1903. They later killed a Pinkerton detective. The pair were arrested, but Rudolph—AKA the Missouri Kid—broke out. He went right back to work, trying to blow a safe in Kansas. Police foiled the plot and arrested Rudolph, who was using an assumed name. He thought he’d be safe in the Kansas penitentiary, but a Pinkerton saw his mug shot and identified him. Rudolph was returned to Missouri and was hanged in 1905.